Club Of Unlucky Wooers

Ten Connecticut Young Men Vow Never to Wed Again

These are the rules of the Rejected Lovers' association formed by ten prominent young men of Derby, Conn., who have met successive disappointments in love, says the New York World:

No member shall propose marriage to any woman.

No member shall attend a dance or reception unless chaperoned by a married man.

No member shall smile, smirk at or ogle any woman not a relative nor converse with such woman over five minutes at any one time on any topic but business.

No member shall converse with operators at the central telephone exchange further than to give number of call desired.

No member shall attend any wedding or wedding reception whatsoever or eat wedding cake.

The penalty for a breach of any of these rules shall be summary expulsion.

In a clubroom shrouded in black and decorated with withered bride roses members are required to recount at each meeting the stories of their unrequited love. Scattered about the rooms and hanging on the walls are returned wedding rings, unused theater tickets, a suit of evening clothes ordered for a wedding which never took place, a bushel basketful or more of returned love letters, handkerchiefs, neckties and gloves which have been returned.

Membership is limited to twelve. Already thirty applications have been received. To be eligible each candidate must present a statement, sworn to before a notary, recounting not less than two refusals of marriage. He must give full details, with names, and tell why, in his opinion, he wasn't accepted. He must also solemnly abjure marriage.

One candidate for membership has confessed to having been rejected eleven times. Thomas McLeod, the president, admits three instances where he did not suit the woman of his choice. Thomas Duggan and Edward Fagan, secretary and treasurer, have two and four refusals respectively to their credit.